LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 3/16

I have a different view on the negative campaign ads then in the article, “Negativity a Key Player in GOP Campaigns” when the mudslinging of republican Candidates is addressed. When running for office, one’s public image is everything. In a campaign, the nominee’s only and ultimate goal is to appear fitter for the position of US president than anyone else. For this to happen, a candidate can’t accept the immaculate public image that an opposer can build up over time, and is therefore forced to undermine their opposition’s image with defaming commercials.

The way I see it, a campaign can be like a war against your opposing candidates. It would be far more effective in a way to try and eliminate (or in this case defame) your opponents rather than just to defend oneself (or in this case your public image).

Surprisingly, there have been even more forcibly negative campaigns in the past. In the 1884 election, president Grover Cleveland had only just been elected by about one thousand votes in the pivotal state of New York, by some well-placed slanderous attacks at his opponent James Blaine. So if history would be any decider, negative ads would seem like a logical choice for most republicans running for office.

Daniel Eichler, freshman

Freshman need to look ahead to the future, too

Dear Editor,

When I first opened the newspaper, “Typical majors lead to unemployment” immedietly caught my attention. … It was a little comforting to read it and keep up to date on these little things that could affect our future as leaders. I always hear the same words over and over, “You have time!” But do we really? Even as a freshman myself, don’t you think it’s important for us to begin narrowing our options for college majors? In the end, what will happen is most of us will reach junior year, unexposed to fields available and we will push ourselves into fields we may not even enjoy and will regret for many years later. If we, even as freshman, can have an idea of what options are really there, maybe we could start preparing ourselves through specific classes and building up for scholarships before time has run out.